not "cutting" it

A

Aekon

New member
so iv been using my PC 7424 for about 2 months. i use yellow, orange, white, and black pads with optimum hyper compound, reg. compound, polish II, and poli-seal.



since im part of a subaru club, most of the cars i do are subarus. however, today i tried a friends 1999 Inifiniti SUV, and a couple weeks ago, my wife's 2003 Toyota Echo. i was pretty much unable to make a dent in ANY of the swirls or scratches.



the Infiniti today was impossible. i did a test section on the hood, as i usualy do, and after 5 passes with a yellow pad w/ opt hyper compound, there was still plenty of RIDS. he told me the hood had been repainted, so i thought maybe they were under the clear on the original paint.



tried the door panels. same deal. couldnt cut it. i was on speed 6, pressing damn hard at times. tried various speeds and various pressures.... nothing. same things happened on the Echo.



so, question is... what the hell?! haha. is it optimum compound thats the weak link? iv read that the menzera stuff was specificaly developed for realy hard clearcoats, so iv been thinkin of trying that. and i know people on here seem to like the Megs. 105



so at this point, im kinda disheartened to know that when i step up to a car, theres a rising chance i wont be able to cut into it. short of stepping up to a tru rotary, what else can i do?



thanks guys.
 
well i am running low on polish, so im gonna need to place another order soon anyway, so as i said above, im open to tryin new compounds!



are optimum compounds not as agressive as others?
 
Aekon said:
well i am running low on polish, so im gonna need to place another order soon anyway, so as i said above, im open to tryin new compounds!



are optimum compounds not as agressive as others?
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Longer work time, but not aggressive as 105.
 
hyper compound claims "infinite" work time. but fat lota good that is if it doesnt cut in the 1st place!
 
If your feeling confident and can afford it I agree with the guy above me. Step up to a rotary. Its really nothing to be scared of and will drastically cut your work time.



I detail a lot of Subarus as well out here in Reno and Subaru paint is fairly soft (especially black), so when you get to a car like a toyota that uses a hard clear coat even on cars like the Echo then its tough to make a dent in. Same with the Infinity.
 
Certainly try the newer DA friendly M105. For these situations, it will likely work well for you. I've had very good results erasing heavy swirling with M95 and my Cyclo- and M95 is supposed to be rotary only. It does lead me to believe that the newer 105 is quite good with a PC, as most do now confirm.
 
Try 105 w/pc. I am willing to bet you will achieve more cut, and still leave an ok finish (for a compound)



I like OHC, but it really only works ok with a rotary. By PC it works for too long, yet doesn't cut much. All of the Opt. products are great for a rotary.
 
I would give the M105 a try. ADS sells a 12 ounce sample for $9.99. It's a lot cheaper than a quality rotary buffer.



Although it is beneficial to have a rotary (and to learn how to use one), the random orbital is something you will likely not quit using even if you do get a rotary.



Besides- M105 is a very good product, and you will probably use it regardless how you apply it! :woot:
 
105 seems the way to go. no one here likes the menzerna stuff?



also, kevin, what is ADS? there so many acronyms on this forum... im still tryin to figure them all out :)



as far as stepping up to a rotary, i think i still need more experience in general. plus id probably only do that once id done enough cars that id made sufficient surplus cash to afford another tool. the place i get my supplies from carries the Flex L3404 lightweight, and the Flex XC 3401 (which is labelled as orbital drive, so is that the same as the PC?). i know people also seem to like the Mekita machine, but i have no idea where to pick one up right. but again... this is all for the future.



what machine would you guys recommend?



thanks for the continued input guys!
 
I didn't see you mention the size of the pads you are using. For hard clear 4" pads are a must with the PC. I have a PC XP and on my Audi clear I have to make 3 passes with M105 and 4" LC orange pad to get out the deeper stuff. The finish that M105 leaves is excellent plus no dusting. The PC works but you need patience with it and always do small sections 12"x12" if your doing heavy correction with it. If you need something that works faster and your going to be doing a lot of hard clear cars then a rotary is probably your best bet, but M105/M205 is the way to go with polish.
 
carlsson said:
I've had very good results erasing heavy swirling with M95 and my Cyclo- and M95 is supposed to be rotary only. It does lead me to believe that the newer 105 is quite good with a PC, as most do now confirm.
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Thanks for posting that!



Which pads were you using with the Cyclo? I can see certain wool pads working well on it with the M95/M105 (even though I didn't like them with other products I tried).



M105 works OK via Cyclo but not always as aggressively as I'd like (with foam pads, didn't get around to trying my Cyclo/Edge wool ones). M205 works well via Cyclo with both orange and green pads (haven't tried my new LC black 4" ones yet).



And yeah, *both* versions of M105 are fine with the PC, I actually preferred the v1.0 and I'm saving my one bottle of it for special-needs situations.





marsbar2006 said:
I didn't see you mention the size of the pads you are using. For hard clear 4" pads are a must with the PC...
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That's exactly what I was thinking :xyxthumbs



And consider PFW pads for aggressive correction. I used PC/3.5" PFW pad/M105 yesterday and got some *SERIOUS* scratches out of some very hard clear.

I have a PC XP and on my Audi clear I have to make 3 passes with M105 and 4" LC orange pad to get out the deeper stuff.
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The XP must be pretty powerful, that's quick for work on an Audi.



The finish that M105 leaves is excellent
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Well, it's not bad but it doesn't look nearly as good as I expected when viewed under the SunGun. But then who goes around inpecting cars with one of those :nixweiss





..always do small sections 12"x12" if your doing heavy correction with [the PC].
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Very good advice, smaller areas work out a lot better IME.



If you need something that works faster and your going to be doing a lot of hard clear cars then a rotary is probably your best bet, but M105/M205 is the way to go with polish.
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Or consider a Flex 3401. As I keep posting, I haven't used my rotaries since I got the Flex.
 
3m perfect it ll rubbing compound.

3m perfect it ll polishing compound

3m gray and white waffle pads.

took everything out of my black Z06
 
i do have the 4" pads, but since this was a giant truck, i was using the regular 6.5" LC pads. i did my spot test on a small section, so it wasnt a matter of tryin to work too large an area. i think i also spent about an hour working that section with various combinations and pressures too... so it wasnt a patience issue. it was just damn hard paint! haha.



since it was a friend, i was doing it for free. next time i see him ill try the 4" pads. perhaps by then ill have had a chance to pick up some 105 as well.



ill also look into the wool pads, but i think iv read its much easier to burn with wool? or is that more for rotarys only?
 
Aekon said:
i do have the 4" pads, but since this was a giant truck, i was using the regular 6.5" LC pads. ..i also spent about an hour working that section with various combinations and pressures too... so it wasnt a patience issue. it was just damn hard paint! haha...
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Odd as it might sound, the smaller pads will make this go *faster* because they actually get the work done. I'll admit I wouldn't look forward to doing the whole thing with them though..or with a PC period! But I really do think they'll be necessary.



since it was a friend, i was doing it for free. next time i see him ill try the 4" pads. perhaps by then ill have had a chance to pick up some 105 as well.
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Give it a try, I bet it'll go a lot better. Heh heh gotta watch those freebie jobs for pals, huh :D



ill also look into the wool pads, but i think iv read its much easier to burn with wool? or is that more for rotarys only?
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It's easier to go too far/cut through the clear because they really do cut better than foam, but it's *harder* to actually *burn* the paint because wool runs a whole lot cooler than foam (and I do mean *A WHOLE LOT*).



Those little PFW pads might be just *perfect* for jobs like this.
 
z282z06 said:
3m perfect it ll rubbing compound.

3m perfect it ll polishing compound

3m gray and white waffle pads.

took everything out of my black Z06
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Just remember to always wear the proper safety equipment when using PI-II FCRC as it contains silica-based abrasives, which can kill you just like asbestos.



Interesting that it worked so well on your Z06, I woulda thought the clear on those would be a bit hard for that stuff.



Don't take the above the wrong way, I used a lot of PI-II and PI-III stuff over the years, gallons of it. Good stuff, I still use the PI-III RC/MG twins on my MPV.
 
sorry, still new here, i know people refer to the wool pads as PFW, but what does that stand for? do they come in different grades like the foam pads? yellow, orange, white, etc...?
 
excellent. thanks for the info!



accumulator, about the flex 3401, thats also an orbital like the PC, correct? is it that much better than the PC that it works as well as a rotary? you said you hadnt picked up a rotary since getting your flex. i like the safety that comes with the orbitals... as a noob im less worried about burning and such.
 
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